Photo by Hubby
__________________________
I stood there with the dark, misty heights towering over me and knew I had three choices…
I could turn back and return to where I had come from.
Give up.
Admit I was not good enough, and never would be.
Abandon my dream.
Never know what I had lost.
QUIT!!
I could stay where I was.
Refuse to admit defeat.
Never find the courage to move forward.
Abandon what had been, as well as what could be.
Wallow in my hole.
STAGNATE!!
I could move on.
Dig deep within me to find the courage.
Overcome obstacles, as I came too them.
Discover beauty in new and exciting places.
Persevere when times were hard.
GROW!!
I stood there with the dark, misty heights towering over me and took a step…FORWARD!!
~ Boing
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18 comments:
What a beautiful photo.
Ok, here goes.
The mountains icy breath froze the skin around Carly's eyes and nose. She was breathing hard as she struggled up the mountain. She thought she had walked for hours, but when she looked behind her the tree line at the base of the mountain seemed a few feet away. She looked ahead and the peak seemed to stretch as far as the moon. How could someone live in such a place?
The sun bounced off the smooth surface of the snow. Carly was glad she had her glasses. She couldn't believe the colours in the snow, she thought it would be plain white.
She ate her lunch as she walked. She looked around at the birds flying above her. She saw rabbits, as white as their surroundings, being chased by lynx. She navigated deep crevass' and caverns.
Near the end of the day she reached the guru's hut at the peak. He sat outside with only a crimson robe wrapped around his thin body. Carly knelt in front of him.
'Please help me, oh wise one. I have come for you to teach me how to live my life and find the strength within.'
The guru looked at her for a long time.
'You have spent all day climbing this high mountain to reach me?' he asked.
Carly nodded.
'And you have put aside fear, exhaustion and hunger to achieve your goal? You have risked the lynx and the crevass, yet you persevered?'
Carly nodded. 'Yes, wise one. Please, am I worthy?'
'There is nothing I can teach you,' the guru said. He stood up and went into his hut, leaving Carly alone on the mountain top.
Gret job, Inkspot
They told me that a wise man lived on the top of this cold mountain. They told me that I should go to see him there; he would have words of great importance for me.
I turned to look at the mountain; it appeared so cold and so out of reach. I began my journey to the top.
It was a lengthy hike, with so many turns and it seemed to take forever to reach my destination.
Finally, in the distance appeared a small hut. I approach with great anticipation (and a little fear). Just as I begin to knock at the door, it opens. There, standing before me was a tiny little man. He wore a long white beard and had very little hair on his head. He invited me in.
Now, you would think that this little hut was a cold, uncomfortable place. I mean, it is so extremely small and on the top of a mountain. How could anyone live in such a place?
As I walk into the two room hut, I sense a peace about it. The peace transforms my fear into calm. I am warm and filled with appreciation. I am in awe.
After the little man gathered a few things, he sat at the table. I wondered what he was up to in the other room. He pointed to the chair across from him; pushed a cup and saucer in place and poured me some tea. He told me that we would be here for a little while.
I am still in awe, as I sit with this little man. The whole feeling within me wants to pour out my heart to him. I look at his face, appearing aged with wrinkles of wisdom lining the rosy cheeks. Then I fix upon his eyes. He has the bluest eyes, like the sea; only with a sparkle you would find as the sunshine reflects on the water.
His eyes; they welcome me. They invite me to pour my heart out to him...and I do. I tell him everything. I tell him of the wonderful childhood and the questionable teenage years where I thought I knew it all. I share of the days I began to understand who I was and the life lay out before me from that point. I tell him why I have come to see him and that I had no expectation of his wisdoms ability to answer my questions. I told him that there was only One God in my life and it is by His Wisdom alone that I live.
Then, his eyes began to smile at me. He began to laugh and I wondered why. Did he not believe the same? Was he thinking I was a fool? Why is he laughing at me? Why did I come here?
He told me this, he said "Child, dear girl. Do you not know why you have come all this way, to see me? Don't you understand? Can you not see that you have great strength? You have climbed this mountain; this cold, wet and fearful mountain. Why do you come here?"
I am totally dumfounded at this point, trying to think of something to say; but nothing comes to me. I begin to throw out some sort of thought, when he touches my lips and says....
(Bet you want to know, don't you? I suppose you'll have to finish up the reading on my blog...because I've been interrupted and I need to tend to my interruption :o>)
Wow, I just read what Inkpot wrote; after submitting mine. I'm amazed at the similarity; although I shouldn't be, the photo pulls that out of the writer {Maybe it's intuitive thinking?}
Very nice story Inkpot :o>.
Tears filled my eyes as I reached the top of this mountain. I had made it. I was breathing hard and my knees shook from the strain of the climb. I fell to the ground in awe at the world around me. The beautiful mountains surrounded me on every side. It took me a while to compose myself enough to continue on my journey.
I was nervous as I entered the guru’s hut. I was unsure what to expect. There he sat cross-legged in the middle of the main room. At first he didn’t acknowledge my presence.
I didn’t interrupt his meditation. Several minutes passed before he gently patted the cushion next to him on the floor. He never opened his eyes. Never spoke, as I took my seat beside of him.
He took my hand between his own. “My child, you are searching. Yes?”
“Yes, sir. I was told you knew the meaning of life.”
He laughed. “The meaning of life, you say?”
“Yes, sir. I hoped you would share it with me. I have traveled all this way.”
“My child, you already know the meaning of life. The meaning of your life. Look into your heart.”
“My heart?”
He smiled. “Yes, your heart. The meaning of life is different for everyone. Your heart is the only place your meaning of life can be found.”
“I don’t understand. I came all this way.”
“Yes, my child. Just another part of your journey. You are doing just as you should. Searching with an open heart.”
I began to cry again, but not tears of sadness or anger. Tears of joy. I understood. It is the journey that will lead me to the answer.
~thought I'd make it easier, here's the rest of the story....
"Dear Girl, I have this for you." and he pulls out a journal; a familiar journal. He tells me that he has been writing in it for years and has been waiting for this day he knew would come. I thought to myself; what day? How would he know I'd be coming to see him?
He says to me, "I've waited for this day; knowing you would come. You have questions that can only be answered from within this journal. Yes, many call me Guru. I am wise to them, they do not understand the life I live; therefor, they cannot understand the Truth."
At this point, I knew I was in the presence of Holiness. This man was indeed more than the common man, more than a man of understandable measure. He continued to say, "I know your God. I know Him well and Dear Girl, He has shown me the story of your life. I have written down the days in this book."
I opened the book and was taken back by the reality of the words, the truth of the life I've lived and the understanding of who I am; an understanding that I have not even fully grasped until this moment. I keep reading and skimming through the pages until I reach a page with nothing on it. "Where is the rest of the story?", I ask.
He smiles at me with his bluest eyes and says, "Dear Girl...you haven't lived it yet. Read the last sentence written."
I turned back a page in the journal to read the words that he has just spoken to me. I think to myself, what comes next. At this point, I'm very overwhelmed with an anxiousness. The little man touches my hand and a calmness anoints me. Who is this little man?, I ask myself. He says that I need not know. I know that I hadn't spoken the words aloud, but he knew what I was thinking. How could all of this be?
"Dear Girl, I AM. Do you not recognize me? I AM. I live within you. You are One with me. I know you better than you know yourself. There is no other in your life that could write this book. Truly no other even knows that we are here now on this mountain. It is just you and I."
Suddenly, I feel a tickle on my face and I wave my hand to brush it away. I realize that I'm in my bed. This could not have been a dream, I say to myself. It just seemed so real and I really didn't learn anything. Where was the answer to my question, Lord? What was this?
Then I faintly hear from within me..."Dear Girl, keep writing your story."
Well done Inkpot, SimplyHEather and Jessica! I don't think that I can add any more to your beautiful imagery! Very inspirational.
Enjoy the day!
Erin
Great writing folks...nothing to add on my end today. I enjoyed reading all the posts.
Dan
"The sign said Guru, so I am going up there", said John to his wife, Alison. Alison whined, "John, you're crazy, you can't make it up that high, how do you know it's not another tourist trap, besides its too dangerous. What about your asthma?". John went up alone. After a while, he no longer heard Alison's plea for him to stop. He was determined. The air grew thin and his asthma began acting up, but he pulled himself up further, further to the top. Finally, he reached the peak and looked around. "Nothing, he said, there is nothing here". Making his way through the fog, he saw a small cabin. He walked to the door and thought he heard voices. He slowly opened it and found it. There is was.
The Mystical Guru Gift Shop.
Alison was right. Another damn tourist trap. He felt embarrassed and stupid, but it was about to get worse. Next to the gift shop was an elevator to the ground floor. He had wasted his time, but even worse, his wife was right.
John started towards the elevator, but then he thought for a moment and looked back at the route he just came from. He decided to go back the same way. He figured that on the way back down he could come up with some fantastic story to tell his wife about a mystical, magical guru with some meaning of life message.
"Yeah, that's a good one", he said.
He got to the bottom, all ready to tell his wife the story. He saw her face, filled with concern, he sighed, and said “tourist trap”.
It was a long, quiet ride home.
Only a few more feet, she reassured herself. She had climbed taller mountains but that had been years ago when she had been in better shape, younger. Finally she reached the outcropping of rock that allowed her to look at the mountains surrounding the peak. They were still shrouded in a gray mist, but the sun would soon burn it off and reveal a breathtaking vista. How did she know? She had read about this special place. A guru supposedly lived on the mountaintop.
She looked in all directions. There was no cabin here, not even a hut. No guru. How silly of me to believe that story, she admonished herself.
She watched as the mist faded away, and the sky lightened. Patches of blue appeared overhead. She sighed and turned to begin the journey back down the mountain, when flickers of light caught her eye. A small pond of water almost hidden by trees now reflected the morning sun. The thought of a drink of fresh mountain water enticed her to push through the underbrush.
When she reached the water’s edge, she stood, quietly, staring into the still depths. Suddenly,the answer to the question that had been tormenting her was clear. She knew what she must do.
She smiled. The story had been true, after all. In the peace and beauty of the mountain, she had found her guru.
Wow! These stories are fabulous!
My only thought is that the truth equals peace.
The guru told me there are no gurus, just ourselves; that there is no such thing as spiritual enlightenment, just joy; that the only learning is self-taught; that the only light that shines is our own.
I left, happy.
I stood there with the dark, misty heights towering over me and knew I had three choices…
I could turn back and return to where I had come from.
Give up.
Admit I was not good enough, and never would be.
Abandon my dream.
Never know what I had lost.
QUIT!!
I could stay where I was.
Refuse to admit defeat.
Never find the courage to move forward.
Abandon what had been, as well as what could be.
Wallow in my hole.
STAGNATE!!
I could move on.
Dig deep within me to find the courage.
Overcome obstacles, as I came too them.
Discover beauty in new and exciting places.
Persevere when times were hard.
GROW!!
I stood there with the dark, misty heights towering over me and took a step…FORWARD!!
Boing...
Really liked this piece. That last line was very powerful.
So glad to have you writing here.
Such spontaneous creativity!! I have taken photos of Lily Rock but never thought anything of anything but the composition. I prefer inclement weather, preferably morning snow, to take a shot. Maybe one day I'll meet that Guru, if he ventures outside his cabin!
Thanks Laura Jayne.
I saw the picture one day and had this floating around in my head ever since, so decided I should put pen to paper (in a cyber sense...).
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